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Ivanchuk Wins and Wins Again

Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine won the Tal Memorial tournament in Moscow that ended last Wednesday and then won the world blitz championship that took place immediately afterward and ended Saturday, defending the title he won in 2007. (Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the Tal Memorial last year but finished in a four-way tie for second this year with Alexander Morozevich of Russia, Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine and Boris Gelfand of Israel.) Results from the Tal Memorial and the blitz championship are available on The Week in Chess Web site.

Ivanchuk’s twin victories continue what has been a very good year for him. Earlier this year, he ran away with the very strong M-Tel Masters in Bulgaria. He also had a good result at the Russian Team Championships, registering wins against Morozevich and Ponomariov, among others. Ivanchuk will have a chance to build on his successes at the Grand Slam Chess Final Masters, which begins tomorrow in Bilbao, Spain.

Including the results at the Tal Memorial, Ivanchuk is once again No. 2 in the world, based on up-to-date calculations of rankings. He was No. 2 as recently as last October in the official rankings. Remarkably, he first reached that level in July 1991.

That Ivanchuk is doing so well currently is a bit remarkable as he is 39 — not usually an age when a player is supposed to be near his peak. Of course, Viswanathan Anand of India, the world champion who is also No. 1, is 38 and will soon turn 39. And Garry Kasparov was 42 and still No. 1 when he retired. Alexei Shirov of Spain, currently No. 9, is 36 and Gelfand, No. 18, is 40. So, while there is abundant evidence that chess players are reaching elite levels at earlier ages — a result of improvements in computers, widespread availability of databases and the growth of the Internet — the youth movement is not sweeping all the older generation aside.

besides anand and ivanchuk, the other top five ranked players are morozevich, kramnik and topalov, all 30 something. it would seem that players of that vintage can still hold their own.

my personal belief is that players in their 40s have a harder time. i wonder if kasparov might have been influenced by the same thought when he walked away while still top ranked in the world.

of course there have been notable exceptions. besides kasparov, viktor korchnoi is the first that comes to mind for longevity. kasparov’s great rival karpov also comes to mind. the quest for the world championship was clearly a motivational tonic that helped to ward off old age.

yet if one looks elsewhere, james cayne was competing seriously for top bridge honors in his 70s earlier this year, and perhaps bear stearns paid the price for his card skills. of course there is also irina levitina, formerly among the top women chess players in the world while in the USSR, and now in her 50s a member of the US team that won the most recent venice cup for the women’s world championship in bridge.

there is also dan harrington, massachusetts champion at chess in his 20s, and later world series poker champion at 50 in 1995 and still a poker legend today.

which raises the question: why does one’s chess skills deteriorate so much earlier than those of other mental games? something for psychologists or neurologists to research.

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In its 1,500-year history, chess has imbedded itself in the world's culture and vocabulary. Ideas, terms and images from the game have long been used as proxies for intelligence and complexity. But chess is more than a diversion. Thousands worldwide play professionally or earn a living by teaching it to children. The Internet has transformed the game, making it easy for players anywhere to find an opponent day or night. Chess computers, originally developed to test the bounds of artificial intelligence, now play better than grandmasters. This blog will cover tournaments and events, trends and developments. Reader comments and questions will be more than welcome.

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